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Fukudome returns to Cubs' lineup

Fukudome returns to Cubs' lineup

DENVER -- Kosuke Fukudome, who has missed four games because of a strained left hamstring, was back in the Cubs' lineup Saturday.

"The main thing I wanted him to do is walk in and I say, 'Are you ready to go?' and he said, 'I'm ready,'" Cubs manager Mike Quade said Saturday.

Quade said that if he senses that Fukudome isn't 100 percent, he will pull him from the game. The right fielder was inserted into the seventh spot in the lineup, not leadoff partly because Quade didn't want him running and mainly because the manager likes his one-two combination of Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney.

"Right now, I'm going to leave those guys there," Quade said.

Fukudome was injured last Sunday making a running catch in the fifth inning at Miller Park in Milwaukee. He took batting practice on Friday and did run.

The outfielder was batting .313 before he was injured. Tyler Colvin, who started in right field while Fukudome was out, was batting .135.